This document relates generally to secure systems and methods for using mobile electronic devices for capturing and transmitting information from print devices to other devices.
In many office environments, print devices such as printers, copiers and scanners are connected to a local network. The local network may be an office network, or it may be a network for a group of related entities under common control, such as individual offices of a multi-office business. However, the print device, and often the entire local network itself, may have limited or no capability for communicating with systems outside of the local network. This may happen, for example, if the print device is behind a firewall of the local network.
While the isolation of print devices within a local network can help to maintain security of the device, it can make it difficult to service or maintain the device from a remote location. The process of obtaining data from a local print device and getting that data to a remote facility is still largely a manual process, often performed when a local person and remote technician are on the phone with each other.
This document describes methods and systems that are developed with the goal of addressing at least some of the problems described above, and/or additional problems.